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Video: Tom Boonen given a Belgian rap tribute as he heads towards retirement

Quick Step Floors rider will leave a hole in the affections of Flemish fans that will be hard to fill

Belgium is gearing up to give one of its sporting heroes, Tom Boonen, a hell of a send-off as he brings down the curtain on a glittering career at Paris-Roubaix in early April – and among the more ‘out there’ tributes we’ve seen is this Flemish rap song about the Quick Step Floors rider.

We were alerted to the song – stick with it, the video gets properly ‘out there’ around 40 seconds in – by a comment on this post by in-the-know blogger The Inner Ring which looks back on Boonen’s career and just what it is that lies behind his popularity.

It’s well worth a read, as are the comments beneath, some of which which flag up musical tributes to the rider affectionately known as Tommeke.

In one of those, StevhanTi mentioned the new song about Boonen – it’s certainly not the first, as others point out – but here’s what he had to say:

The original song is quite a hit in Flanders for the moment and the lyrics were adapted at the request of ‘Studio Brussel’ a popular radio network.

The lyrics are sung in the same dialect as Boonen and the singer is (said to be) the tattoo artist who did Boonen’s ink as well.

Anyway with ‘Het Volk’ going on next weekend Boonen fever is really getting high here. It’s actually becoming ludicrous.

Boonen getting some road rash, stiff muscles but a good training after all was almost bigger news than Ben Hermans winning two stages and the overall in the season’s first race with proper mountains …

That’s a reference to BMC Racing’s Hermans clinching the overall at the Tour of Oman last week.

Aged 30, when it comes to big one-day races, the Belgian is more a rider for the hillier terrain of the Ardennes rather than the Cobbled Classics, which start on Saturday with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

Belgium isn’t short of top cyclists, of course, though there’s a question mark over whether any of them can capture the hearts of Flemish fans the way Boonen has.

Greg Van Avermaet, also of BMC Racing had a standout season last year. The 31-year-old won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Tirreno-Adriatico, a Tour de France stage, the GP de Montreal and of course the Olympic road race.

Those victories have, done his profile in his home country no harm, and he could be the rider most likely to assume Boonen’s mantle.

LottoNL-Jumbo’s Sep Vanmarcke, 28, is a decent bet to take a cobbled Monument at some point. Like Van Avermaet, he already has podium finishes at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, but once Boonen leaves the peloton, he is likely to have the burden of expectation on him in those races.

Former world champion Philippe Gilbert’s palmares include three Monuments, stages of all three Grand Tours, and the 2012 UCI road world championship. But at 34, the BMC Racing rider is heading into the twilight of his career and moreover comes from the French-speaking part of the country.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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9 comments

Avatar
J90 | 7 years ago
1 like

Yay, it's got the words so we can all sing along...maybe.....maybe not.

Avatar
tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
14 likes

Don't expect a reply guys.

 

He's out shopping for a wing mirror at the moment enlightened

Avatar
psling | 7 years ago
5 likes

With a moniker like "Plasterer's Radio" you'd expect nothing less. People do know what plasterer's radio is slang for I take it?

Avatar
kaska | 7 years ago
8 likes

I was just about to post the same. 

Plasterer's Radio - why?  What possible benefit to anyone is there in posting that comment?  Do you think the woman in the video will reach out to you?

Avatar
KoenM | 7 years ago
2 likes

Well as a Belgian, I don't even understand 100% of it, it's in a very heavy dialect, but what I do understand is very funny! Btw the 3 ladies are all presenters on Studio Brussel.

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Russell Orgazoid | 7 years ago
0 likes

I'd poke the ginger one in the middle 1st

Avatar
Wolfcastle50 replied to Russell Orgazoid | 7 years ago
12 likes

Plasterer's Radio wrote:

I'd poke the ginger one in the middle 1st

 

Pasterer's radio - do you drive vans in Tottenham Court Road? Because your above quote is being used as a great example of how to be scum in the comments section about a woman's revenge on sexists.

Avatar
nick_rearden | 7 years ago
4 likes

Brilliant! Reminds me of Yello, wonder what they could have rustled up in a similar vein for their countryman Spartacus on his retirement?

Avatar
peted76 | 7 years ago
4 likes

I have no idea what's going on in that video, but it makes me want to be Belgian!

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